Joe's interest in the military was tied to his experiences with his Dad in the outdoors and participating in Boy Scouting. It was further fueled by popular movies and documentaries he saw in his childhood.

Joe had an indirect route to the Military Academy. Enlisting in 1996 and serving as a soldier in support of West Point prior to being accepted as a New Cadet in 1997.

Joe initially suffered from overconfidence in the skills and abilities that got him to West Point and an underappreciation for the amount of work he'd have to invest in himself to build the skills necessary to succeed.

Joe would also struggle to learn how to and prepare himself in a way that allowed him to be smooth in the moment of execution.

Joe would graduate West Point in 2001 and commission as an Armor Officer. He would serve at Ft. Riley, Kansas and deploy to Iraq in 2003 and 2005. Command a Tank Company in South Korea. Serve as an instructor at the Maneuver Center of Excellence. Deploying to Afghanistan in 2012 to serve as a Brigade S3 for the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan. Served at Fort Carson, Colorado and Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington as a Field Grade Officer before deploying to Saudi Arabia in 2019 to serve as an Advisor for the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Joe would serve as the Deputy Director for Exercises for I Corps at JBLM, Washington for three years before retiring in 2023.

Joe talks about his experiences learning from the past, preparing for the future, and trying to live in the present.

This is his story.